Girl On The Train: Book Review

As I mentioned in previous posts, I want to make reading more of a priority this year. The first book I wanted to read was The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins. I purchased this book when I stopped in a Barnes & Nobles while in the states visiting family. I really miss this luxury of walking into a book store and finding English written books. The blurb on the back of the book really intrigued me.

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburb homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life- as she sees it_ is perfect. Not unlike the life she recent lost.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entailed not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

In the book, Rachel sees this couple every morning and evening either on their patio, sitting on their roof, or going about their business in their house as her train passes by to and from London. She names them Jess and Jason and creates these elaborate stories for them. One morning she sees something shocking as the train passes by quickly. The next day that she is on the train, Rachel finds out that the woman is named Megan and that she has disappeared. Rachel goes to the police to tell them what she saw but the police write her off for being an alcoholic who blacks out often and they catch her in a few lies. So Rachel, thinking that her information is important, reaches out to the people in the middle of the investigation.

The book is written in an unusual way. Every chapter is from a different person’s point, so it jumps around a bit but still easy to follow. Most of the story is from Rachel’s point of view. She is easily relatable to and I was surprised to see myself understanding how and why she got involved with police investigation the way that she did. I could see myself doing the same thing and then if the police didn’t believe me, getting more involved with investigation behind their backs if I thought I could help.

The Girl On The Train was a great book and I enjoyed reading it. It reminded me a lot of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (one of my favorite books). It wasn’t all that predictable at all which I appreciate because I can usually figure out who did it early on and therefor am bored for most of the book or movie. This one kept me intrigued the whole time. The last day I was reading it I couldn’t get out of bed for two hours because I wanted to see how the book ended. I couldn’t wait any longer because the story had a sudden twist and everything went crazy.

Kelly is originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She currently lives in Iwakuni, Japan with her handsome husband, Jeremy. She is the owner of Barking Fabulous Dog Treats, and a blogger for "I Do And Adieu". Kelly is also a paranormal investigator with over 10 years of experience. In her free time she loves to read, penpal, bake, paint, and veg out with Netflix with her kittens, Katniss Everpurr and Bagheera.